Mathews Nielsen

As 6sqft previously reported, a trio of glassy residential towers known as Waterline Square is rising on a five-acre waterfront site between West 59th and 61st Streets. Aside from the megaproject’s size, its roster of starchitects–Richard Meier and Partners, Rafael Viñoly Architects, and Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates–has been most impressive. But now a head-spinning host of perks joins the wow-factor, as Curbed reports that the Rockwell Group has revealed renderings of a three-story amenity space to be dubbed The Waterline Club, divided among all three buildings. Among the offerings are a three-lane pool; 4,600-square-foot kids’ playroom; gardening, art, and music studios; and indoor tennis court, basketball court, soccer field, and skate park.

L to R: One Manhattan Square, 247 Cherry Street, 260 South Street, and 271-283 South Street. The image above, created by CityRealty, depicts the possible massing of the new towers; No official design has been released

When L+M Partners and CIM Group announced plans last May for two 50-story towers at 260 South Street, their project joined a growing list of controversial towers sprouting up along the Two Bridges waterfront, including Extell’s 823-foot condo One Manhattan Square, JDS and SHoP Architects’ possible 1,000+ foot rental at 247 Cherry Street, and Starret Group’s shorter rental at 275 South Street. Now, in what’s becoming a trend for the Lower East Side-meets-Chinatown ‘hood, L+M and CIM have revealed plans for their project that actually show increased heights of 69 and 62 stories, or 798 and 728 feet. As first reported by The Lo-Down, the developers plan to include up to 1,350 apartments, 338 of which will be reserved as affordable, senior housing, ground-floor retail, landscaped outdoor spaces by Mathews Nielsen, and an upgraded flood-protection system.

Now that the Barry Diller-funded Pier 55 offshore park can proceed freely, the Wall Street Journal took a look at how construction is progressing on the $200 million project. Currently, the 535 concrete columns, each three feet wide and ranging from 70 to 200 feet long, that will support the 2.75-acre park have been erected, poking out of the Hudson River amidst the historic wooden piles that once supported Pier 54, where the Titanic was supposed to dock (these will remain to sustain marine life development). On top of them will be pots, “hollow pentagonal forms” that weigh as much as 60 tons and will be “linked with concrete to create a rectangular platform of about 104,000 square feet.”

Back in April, the city introduced a plan B for Barry Diller’s Pier 55 floating park, but it was far less exciting than the original futuristic design. Thankfully, the latest set of renderings, revealed by Curbed, show that the whimsical nature of the park hasn’t gone anywhere.

Mathews Nielsen, the landscape architect for the project who is working with designer Thomas Heatherwick, unveiled the latest set of images at a meeting this week. They take into account concerns from the local community board, including its height (the platform will now be 62 feet at its highest point as opposed to 70), circulation (the winding pathways are being designed with congestion in mind), and the issue of people jumping off (the periphery will be lined with shrubbery and a fence).

Back in June, the Hudson Square Connection (a neighborhood BID) announced their plans to turn Soho Square, the half-acre open space at the intersection of Spring Street and Sixth Avenue in Hudson Square, into a public park. Since then, the Business Improvement District, in partnership with the city and neighborhood stakeholders, has been seeking input from the community to inform the $6 million renovation. Just last night, the design by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects was presented to the Community Board 2 Parks Committee, and it features sustainable, green infrastructure, storm water management, and more.

Coming on the heels of a rezoning last spring that will yield much more residential and retail development in the area just north of Canal Street, the Hudson Square Connection Business Improvement District embarked on an ambitious $27 million campaign to create more open space and beautify the neighborhood’s streets.

First up was a $200,000 investment at Freeman Plaza West a few months after the City Council approved the rezoning. The vacant property near the entrance to the Holland Tunnel was magically transformed into an unexpected but charming garden respite with the addition of umbrellas, tables, chairs and trees.